FCSO: Group robbed, locked victims inside room

FLORENCE COUNTY, SC (WMBF) Four men have been charged in connection to an armed robbery and kidnapping in Florence County early Tuesday morning.

Capt. Mike Nunn, spokesman for the Florence County Sheriff's Office, said deputies responded to R&J's Billiard and Pub located at 202 Third Loop Road in Florence County around 4:15 a.m. in reference to an armed robbery.

Upon arrival, deputies learned two men entered the pub armed with a MAC-10 semi-automatic pistol and a shotgun and robbed patrons before locking them in a room.

The suspects were said to have fled on foot into a wooded area near the business, where deputies discovered the weapons as well as the stolen money. Nunn said shortly after, Joseph Elijah Baccus, 24, was arrested with the help of the Florence Police Department near Millridge Drive.

The second suspect robber, Johnell Alquinn Richardson, 19, was arrested later in the afternoon, according to Nunn.

Not far away, deputies made a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Montez Decartous Baccus, 23, who was allegedly supposed to be driving the getaway car for Joseph Baccus and Richardson. He was arrested and charged with accessory before and after the fact of armed robbery as well as possession of marijuana.

According to Nunn, a fourth man, Jeffrey Gordon, 26, entered the pub before the robbery pretending to be a patron and unlocked the door for Joseph Baccus and Richardson. Nunn said to hide his role in the robbery, he was also locked in the room with the other victims.

He was later arrested.

Joseph Baccus, Richardson and Gordon have been charged with seven counts of armed robbery and six counts of kidnapping. All four suspects remain incarcerated in the Florence County Detention Center.